Location, location, location

Certainly, spring is here and summer will be here in just about five minutes! Our red climbing rose is really growing great this year.The blooms are simply gorgeous and are more like those on a tea rose. When we bought our house from my mother-in-law, she had this rose planted right next to the creek in the backyard and it absolutely did not like that location. It struggled to put out a single blossom. So we moved it to the front yard and we could almost hear it say "Thank you!"

We did the same with the Ceceille deBrummer Rose. It is huge now and soon will be covered with a mass of sweet-scented pink blossoms.

By the way, the trellises for these roses are in their third incarnation. The first incarnation was as a base for a hammock that we had on our porch when we lived in the mountains. When we moved back to Charleston, we took it apart and made a base for a wooden swing. Once that rotted, it became two trellises. Truthfully, it's about to fall apart again, but we're hoping it will hold out until we decide how to manage the roses. (We LOVE to recycle).

A last little tidbit on my "Ladies of the Night" wallhanging. I have finished the quilting and blocked it yesterday before adding the binding. (I'm glad I did because, in that process, I realized I needed to take out some of the quilting in the border and redo it). I also am auditioning some possible beading on the flowers. I mention the blocking because I think that that is a step that many quilters skip and I think that it is a mistake many times. A quilt that could look really nice often looks rumpled and uneven because it needs to be blocked. I wish that I had taken a picture of this one before I blocked it because it was a lot tighter in the center and needed to be stretched. What I did was to wet the quilt in cold water in the bathtub--got it REALLY wet--and then wrapped it in a towel so it didn't drip on the floor. My studio has carpet in it, so I laid the quilt on the floor and started stretching it out smoothly and pinned it down through the carpet. (For a better look at the pinning, click on the picture to enlarge.) This small quilt actually took quite a while to block but, I think, was worth it in the long run. It's also helpful if you use your 12 1/' square to keep your corners straight.

Can't let this day go by without mentioning the Cooper Rover Bridge Run today. I only saw it on T.V. this year, but what an event! I have walked the race twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. Maybe I'll make that a goal for next year--of course, I need to get a new pair of feet first.